The present application is based on and claims the benefit of Korean patent application Serial No. 2001-12736, filed Mar. 12, 2001, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
1. Filed of the Invention
The present invention relates a cyclone dust collecting apparatus, and more particularly, to a cyclone dust collecting apparatus having a dirt collecting container that can be exclusively removed from the cyclone dust collecting apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, an upright type vacuum cleaner having a cyclone dust collecting apparatus comprises a brush connected with a cleaner body and moving along a cleaning surface. The cleaner body is divided into a dust collecting chamber for mounting the cyclone dust collecting apparatus removably, and a motor driving chamber for mounting a motor which provides a suction force. In the above construction, when the motor is driven, it provides the brush with the strong suction force. By the suction force, dust-laden air is drawn from the cleaning surface into the cleaner body. The air then flows into the cyclone dust collecting apparatus mounted on the dust collecting chamber of the cleaner body. The air is drawn into the cyclone dust collecting apparatus, forming a vortex rotating at high speed. Various contaminants entrained in the air are centrifuged by the centrifugal force of the vortex, and are collected at the cyclone dust collecting apparatus, and then cleaned air is externally discharged through the motor driving chamber.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the cyclone dust collecting apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the cyclone dust collecting apparatus includes a cyclone body 11 and a cyclone housing 12. The cyclone housing 12 is divided into a centrifuging chamber 12a and a dirt collecting chamber 12b. An opening 12c is formed in a lower side of the centrifuging chamber 12a, communicating the centrifuging chamber 12a to the dirt collecting chamber 12b. The air that flows into the cyclone body 11 forms the vortex in the centrifuging chamber 12a. The contaminants entrained in the air are centrifuged by the centrifugal force, and then is discharged together with a certain part of the air to the dirt collecting chamber 12b through the opening 12c. 
The process for emptying out the dust and contaminants from the cyclone dust collecting apparatus, in the case of that the dirt collecting chamber 12b is full of the dust and contaminants, will be described. First, the whole cyclone dust collecting apparatus is detached from the dust collecting chamber, and then the cyclone housing 12, at which the dust and contaminants is collected, is detached from the detached cyclone dust collecting apparatus. Then, the dust and contaminants in the dirt collecting chamber 12b of the cyclone housing 12 are emptied out.
Since the whole cyclone dust collecting apparatus has to be detached from the dust collecting chamber, and then the cyclone housing 12 has to be detached from the detached dust collecting chamber, in order to empty the dirt collecting chamber 12b of the cyclone housing 12, that inconveniences the user.
The present invention is developed to solve the problems as described above, and accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a cyclone dust collecting apparatus of an improved structure from which a dirt collecting container is exclusively detached to empty out the dirt piled therein, without requiring to detach the whole cyclone dust collecting apparatus.
A cyclone dust collecting apparatus for a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention to achieve the object comprises a cylindrical cyclone body secured to a top of a dust collecting chamber which is provided in a cleaner body and connected to an air drawing path and an air discharging path, the cylindrical cyclone body having an air inlet and an air outlet corresponding to the air drawing path and the air discharging path, respectively, a dirt collecting container removably disposed at a lower portion of the cyclone body for collecting dirt and contaminants centrifuged at the cyclone body, a partition plate disposed between the cyclone body and the dirt collecting container, a first dirt path protruded outwardly from a side of a bottom of the cyclone body for discharging the dust and contaminants centrifuged at the cyclone body into the dirt-collecting container, and a second, dirt path protruded outwardly from a side of a top of the dirt collecting container for discharging the dust and contaminants centrifuged at the cyclone body into the dirt collecting container, the first and the second dirt paths corresponding to each other.
Here, the partition plate is connected to an opened bottom of the cyclone body, and has a dirt passage hole disposed at a position corresponding to the first and the second dirt paths.
The first and the second dirt paths protrude outwardly from the cyclone body and the dirt collecting container, respectively, in a tangential direction with respect to outer surface of the cyclone body and the dirt collecting container.
The second dirt path formed on the dirt collecting container has the larger curvature radius than that of the first dirt path formed on the cyclone body.
The cyclone dust collecting apparatus further comprises dirt rotation preventing means for preventing the dust and contaminants flowing into the dirt collecting container from rotating. The dirt rotation preventing means comprises at least one dividing piece protruded from an inner circumference of the dirt collecting container. The dividing piece extends obliquely from the top of the dirt collecting container to the bottom thereof. The cyclone body comprises a centrifuging container having a shape of a cylinder of which both ends are opened, and a head having an air drawing pipe connected to the air drawing path for guiding the air to flow obliquely with respect to the centrifuging container, and an air discharging pipe of which one end is connected to a grill protruded toward the opened bottom of the centrifuging container and the other end is connected to the air discharging path, the head being connected to an opened top of the centrifuging container.